We read in 2 Kings 12:2, “Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.” Jehoash did right in his earlier years because he followed a godly man. We read in 12:18, when threatened with attack by the king of Syria that rather than approach God for advice and direction he emptied the treasures from the house of the Lord and bought his way out of trouble. We are missing some content which explains this change and lack of trust in God which is elaborated for us in 2 Chronicles 24. We read in 24:15, “But Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died;...”. So his godly counselor was gone. We read in 24:17-18, “Now after the death of Jehoiada the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king listened to them. Therefore, they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served wooden images and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass.” It goes on to say that prophets were sent but he now disregarded them. Even the prophet Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, approached him and he had him killed. We see the same man, the same king, acting completely differently depending upon who he chose to follow.

Many of us have children who have been brought up in the church. They are doing all of the right things. At some point they will leave our houses and they must decide whether they were following us or following God. For if it was us, then when they change their surroundings and if they choose to follow teachers, friends, co-workers, etc. their faith will now rest on the new object of who they follow. This is why it is so important to raise disciples of God not followers of ourselves. We and every other individual being imperfect will at some points fail others, only God will never fail us. We are all offered the same thing the Rich Young Ruler was offered in Matthew 19:21, “Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” We all hold onto certain things like the Rich Young Ruler which prevents us from following Jesus purely. It might be our intellect, our money, our family, our career, etc. We must all step back and ask ourselves who and what do we really trust in. We are all a shell of the potential of what is inside us in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in Matthew 17:20, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” May we cast our eyes onto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith and trust Him above all else.